Chapter 24

Capacitance and
Dielectrics
Introduction
• In flash photography, the energy used to make the flash is
stored in a capacitor, which consists of two closely
spaced conductors that carry opposite charges.
• The energy of a capacitor is actually stored in the electric
field.
Capacitors
• Any two conductors
separated by an insulator (or
a vacuum) form a capacitor.
• When the capacitor is
charged, it means the two
conductors have charges
with equal magnitude and
opposite sign, and the net
charge on the capacitor as a
whole is zero.
Capacitors and Capacitance
• One common way to charge a capacitor is to connect the two
conductors to opposite terminals of a battery.
• This gives a potential difference Vab between the conductors
that is equal to the voltage of the battery.
• If we change the magnitude of charge on each conductor, the
potential difference between conductors changes; however, the
ratio of charge to potential difference does not change.
• This ratio is called the capacitance C of the capacitor:
Parallel-Plate Capacitor
• A parallel-plate capacitor consists of two parallel
conducting plates separated by a distance that is
small compared to their dimensions.
Parallel-Plate Capacitor
• The field between the plates of a parallel-plate capacitor is essentially
uniform, and the charges on the plates are uniformly distributed over
their opposing surfaces.
• When the region between the plates is empty, the capacitance is:

• The capacitance depends on only the geometry of the capacitor.

• The quantities A and d are constants for a given capacitor, and ϵ0 is a
universal constant.
Units of Capacitance
• The SI unit of capacitance is the farad, F.
1 F = 1 C V = 1 C2 N  m = 1 C2 J

• One farad is a very large

capacitance.
• For the commercial capacitors
shown in the photograph, C is
measured in microfarads
(1 F = 10 −6 F)
Example 24.2:
The plates of a parallel-plate capacitor in vacuum are 5.00 mm apart and
2.00 m2 in area. A 10.0 kV potential difference is applied across the
capacitor. Compute (a) the capacitance; (b) the charge on each plate; and
(c) the magnitude of the electric field between the plates.
Solution:

(a)

(b)

(c)
Example 24.3: A spherical capacitor
Two concentric spherical conducting shells are separated by vacuum. The
inner shell has total charge +Q and outer radius ra = 9.5 cm, and the outer
shell has charge -Q and inner radius rb =10.5 cm. Find the capacitance of this
spherical capacitor
Solution:
The potential at any point between the
spheres is:
Example 24.4: A cylindrical capacitor
Two long, coaxial cylindrical conductors are separated by vacuum. The
inner cylinder has outer radius ra and linear charge density +λ. The outer
cylinder has inner radius rb and linear charge density - λ. Find the
capacitance per unit length for this capacitor.

Solution:
Potential in the space between the
cylinders (Chapter 23):
Problem 24.1:
The plates of a parallel-plate capacitor are 2.50 mm apart, and each carries
a charge of magnitude 80.0 nC. The plates are in vacuum. The electric field
between the plates has a magnitude of 4.00 x 106 V/m. What is (a) the
potential difference between the plates; (b) the area of each plate; (c) the
capacitance?
Capacitors in Series
• Capacitors are in series if they are connected one after
the other, as illustrated.
• The equivalent single capacitor is shown on the next
slide.
Capacitors in Series
Capacitors in Series
• When several capacitors are connected in series, the
magnitude of charge is the same on all plates of all the
capacitors.
• The potential differences of the individual capacitors add to
give the total potential difference across the series
combination: Vtotal = V1 + V2 + V3 + ...
• The equivalent capacitance of the series combination is
given by:
Capacitors in Parallel
• Capacitors are connected in parallel between a and b
if the potential difference Vab is the same for all the
capacitors.
Capacitors in Parallel
• This is the equivalent capacitor of two capacitors
connected in parallel.
Capacitors in Parallel
• When several capacitors are connected in parallel, the potential
differences are the same for all the capacitors.
• The charges on the individual capacitors add to give the total
charge on the parallel combination:
Qtotal = Q1 + Q2 + Q3 + ...
• The equivalent capacitance of the parallel combination is given
by:
Example 24.5: Capacitors in series and in parallel
In Figs. 24.8 and 24.9, let C1 = 6.0 μF, C2 = 3.0 μF, and Vab = 18 V. Find the
equivalent capacitance and the charge and potential difference for each capacitor
when the capacitors are connected (a) in series (see Fig. 24.8) and (b) in parallel
(see Fig. 24.9)

Solution:
Figure 24.8 A series
(a) connection of two capacitors.
Example 24.5: Capacitors in series and in parallel
(b)
Figure 24.9 A parallel connection
of two capacitors.
Example 24.6: A capacitor network
Find the equivalent capacitance of the five-capacitor network shown in
Fig. 24.10a
Solution:

This gives us the equivalent combination of Fig. 24.10b.

This gives us the equivalent combination of Fig. 24.10c

Equivalent capacitance Ceq (Fig. 24.10d)

Problem 24.17:
In Fig. E24.17, each capacitor has C = 4.00 μF and Vab
= +28.0 V. Calculate (a) the charge on each capacitor;
(b) the potential difference across each capacitor; (c)
the potential difference between points a and d.
Problem 24.17:
Problem 24.20:
In Fig. E24.20, C1 = 6.00 μF, C2 = 3.00 μF, and C3 = 5.00
μF. The capacitor network is connected to an applied
potential Vab. After the charges on the capacitors have
reached their final values, the charge on C2 is 30.0 μC.
(a) What are the charges on capacitors C1 and C3? (b)
What is the applied voltage Vab?
Energy Stored in a Capacitor
• We can calculate the potential energy U of a charged capacitor by
calculating the work W required to charge it.

• When we are done charging the capacitor, the final charge is Q

and the final potential difference is V.

• The total work W needed to increase the capacitor charge q

from zero to Q is:
Energy Stored in a Capacitor
• The potential energy stored in a capacitor is:

• The capacitor energy is stored in the electric field between the plates.
• The energy density (the energy per unit volume) is:

Use
Energy Stored in a Capacitor
• A practical application of capacitors is
their ability to store energy and release it
quickly.
• An extreme example of the same principle
is the Z machine at Sandia National
Laboratories in New Mexico, which is
used in experiments in controlled nuclear
fusion.
• The Z machine uses a large number of
capacitors in parallel to give a tremendous
equivalent capacitance.
• The arcs shown here are produced when
the capacitors discharge their energy into
a target, which is heated to a temperature
higher than 2  109 K.
Example 24.8: Electric-field energy
(a) What is the magnitude of the electric field required to store 1.00 J of
electric potential energy in a volume of 1.00 m3 in vacuum? (b) If the field
magnitude is 10 times larger than that, how much energy is stored per
cubic meter?
Solution:

(a) The desired energy density is u = 1.00 J/m3 .

(b) The above equation shows that u is proportional to E2

If E increases by a factor of 10, u increases by a factor of

102 = 100, so the energy density becomes u = 100 J/m3 .
Example 24.9: Two ways to calculate energy
stored in a capacitor
The spherical capacitor described in Example 24.3 (Section 24.1) has charges
+Q and -Q on its inner and outer conductors. Find the electric potential energy
stored in the capacitor (a) by using the capacitance C found in Example 24.3
and (b) by integrating the electric-field energy density u.

Solution:
(a) From Example 24.3,
the spherical capacitor
has capacitance
Dielectrics
• Most capacitors have a nonconducting material, or
dielectric, between their conducting plates.
• A common type of capacitor uses long strips of metal foil
for the plates, separated by strips of plastic sheet such as
Mylar.
Dielectrics Increase Capacitance
• Consider an electrometer connected across a charged
capacitor, with magnitude of charge Q on each plate and
potential difference V0.
Dielectrics Increase Capacitance
• When we insert an uncharged sheet of dielectric, such as glass,
paraffin, or polystyrene, between the plates, the potential
difference decreases to a smaller value V.
• Since Q is unchanged, the capacitance C = Q is increased with
V
the dielectric.
Dielectrics
• When a dielectric is inserted
between the plates of a
capacitor, the electric field
decreases.
• This is due to polarization of
the charge within the
dielectric, which results in
induced surface charges, as
shown.

(induced surface charge density)

The Dielectric Constant
• When an insulating material is inserted between the plates of a
capacitor whose original capacitance is C0, the new capacitance
is greater by a factor K, where K is the dielectric constant of
the material.

• The energy density in the capacitor also increases:

Table 24.1 Some Dielectric Constants
Material K
Vacuum 1
Air (1 atm) 1.00059
Teflon 2.1
Mylar 3.1
Glass 5 – 10
Glycerin 42.5
Water 80.4
Dielectric Breakdown
• If the electric field is strong enough,
dielectric breakdown occurs and the
dielectric becomes a conductor.
• The dielectric strength is the
maximum electric field the material can
withstand before breakdown occurs.
• For example, Pyrex glass has a
dielectric constant of K = 4.7, and a
dielectric strength of Em = 1 ✕ 107 V/m.
• Dry air has a dielectric constant of
K = 1.00059 and a dielectric
strength of Em = 3 ✕ 106 V/m.
Example 24.10: A capacitor with and without a dielectric
Suppose the parallel plates in Fig. 24.15 each have an area of 2000 cm2 and are
1.00 cm apart. We connect the capacitor to a power supply, charge it to a potential
difference V0 = 3.00 kV, and disconnect the power supply. We then insert a sheet of
insulating plastic material between the plates, completely filling the space between
them. We find that the potential difference decreases to 1.00 kV while the charge on
each capacitor plate remains constant. Find (a) the original capacitance C0; (b) the
magnitude of charge Q on each plate; (c) the capacitance C after the dielectric is
inserted; (d) the dielectric constant K of the dielectric; (e) the permittivity P of the
dielectric; (f) the magnitude of the induced charge Qi on each face of the dielectric;
(g) the original electric field E0 between the plates; and (h) the electric field E after the
dielectric is inserted.

Solution:
(a)
Example 24.10: A capacitor with and without a dielectric
(b)

(c)

(d)

(e)

(f)

(g)

(h)
Example 24.11: Energy storage with and without a
dielectric
Find the energy stored in the electric field of the capacitor in Example
24.10 and the energy density, both before and after the dielectric sheet
is inserted.
Solution:

The final energy is one-third of the original energy.

The energy density with the dielectric is one-third of the original

energy density.
Problem 24.33:
A 12.5 μF capacitor is connected to a power supply that keeps a constant potential
difference of 24.0 V across the plates. A piece of material having a dielectric
constant of 3.75 is placed between the plates, completely filling the space between
them. (a) How much energy is stored in the capacitor before and after the dielectric
is inserted? (b) By how much did the energy change during the insertion? Did it
increase or decrease?